Description

Maybe it was an asteroid impact, a nuclear war, or a viral pandemic. Whatever the cause, the world as we know it has ended and you and your community of survivors must start again. What key knowledge would you need to not only survive in the immediate post-apocalyptic aftermath, but avert another Dark Ages and accelerate the rebooting of civilisation from scratch? Living in the modern world, we have become disconnected from the basic processes that support our lives, as well as the beautiful fundamentals of science that enable you to relearn things for yourself. The Knowledge is a grand thought experiment on the behind-the-scenes fundamentals of how our world works, and what drove the progression of civilisation over the centuries. What are the fundamentals of where our food comes from? Why do we eat what we do — why did our ancestors 10,000 years ago chose to cultivate the crops they did out of the thousands of natural plant species? And how could you restart all of that if you ever had to?

Mark Tester, Chair of the Enrichment in the Fall Program, will introduce this keynote lecture.

A light snack will be provided prior to the keynote lecture from 12:00 p.m.​​

This event is brought to you by the Office of Enrichment Programs.

Make sure you submit the survey after you have attended this event.

This event has limited seating. If you register and later are unable to attend this event, please be sure to 'unregister' on the website so that someone else can take your seat.

Mon, Oct 17, 2016 [12:30 PM - 01:30 PM]

Lewis Dartnell

Prof. Lewis Dartnell is a research scientist, presenter and author based in London. He graduated from Oxford University with a First Class degree in Biological Sciences and completed his PhD at University College London in 2007. He now hold the Professorship in Science Communication at the University of Westminster. His research is in the field of astrobiology and the search for microbial life on Mars. He has also held a STFC Science in Society Fellowship and is very active in delivering live events at schools and science festivals, working as a scientific consultant for the media, and has appeared in numerous TV documentaries and radio shows. He won several awards for his science writing and outreach work and regularly freelance for newspapers and magazine articles, and has published three books.